Pro

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Lionel Messi scored four goals to become the youngest player to pass the 200-mark in the Spanish league, leading Barcelona to a 5-1 rout of Osasuna on Sunday night.

With his 22nd hat trick for Barcelona and fifth game of four goals or more, Messi increased his La Liga total to 202 goals in 235 games. The 25-year-old became the eighth player to reach 200, joining Telmo Zarra (251), Hugo Sanchez (234), Raul Gonzalez (228), Alfredo di Stefano (227), Cesar Rodriguez (223), Quini (219) and Pahino (210). Zarra had been the youngest to reach 200, achieving the feat when he was 29.

Messi has 44 goals this season, including 33 in La Liga. He has scored in his last 16 starts.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 20th career hat trick in an 11-minute span to lead defending champion Real Madrid over Getafe 4-0.

Barcelona (19-1-1) has an 11-point lead over second-place Atletico Madrid (15-3-2), which was at Athletic Bilbao later Sunday. Real Madrid (13-4-4) trails Barcelona by 15 points.

Barcelona hosts Real on Wednesday in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semifinals.

———

LONDON (AP) — Liverpool and Tottenham lost to lower-league opponents in the FA Cup on Sunday, joining a lengthy list of Premier League teams to exit in the fourth round of soccer's oldest knockout competition.

Oldham, in 19th place in the third tier, stunned visiting Liverpool 3-2. Despite a goal from American Clint Dempsey, Spurs lost 2-1 at Leeds, which is 11th in the second-tier League Championship.

Chelsea was spared a similar fate when Fernando Torres scored in the 83rd minute for a 2-2 tie at third-tier Brentford, forcing a replay.

The FA Cup is famous for upsets. On Saturday, Luton defeated Norwich 1-0 to become the first non-league club in 24 years to beat a top-tier opponent.

Fourth-tier Bradford set the tone this season by reaching the League Cup final after knocking out both Arsenal and Aston Villa.

"You have to take it on the chin, but there has been plenty of warnings throughout the weekend," Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers said. "If your application is not right, you can get found out."

Both Liverpool and Tottenham fielded weakened lineups but they still contained plenty of millionaire players.

"I am left speechless by the result," said Oldham forward Matt Smith, who scored twice for a team that is 55 places lower than Liverpool in England's soccer pyramid. "We went out there wanting to battle together."

Oldham made its name in the early 1990s when the club reached two FA Cup semifinals (1990 and `94) and a League Cup final ('90), where it lost to Nottingham Forest.

Smith's third-minute goal was offset by Luis Suarez's in the 17th, but Oldham went ahead 3-1 when Smith scored in the fourth minute of first-half injury time and Reece Wabara got a goal in the 48th. Joe Allen's 80th-minute goal for Liverpool made the final minutes tense.

Tottenham, which is fourth in the Premier League, fell behind 2-0 when Luke Varney scored in the 15th and Ross McCormack in the 50th, Dempsey, playing at forward, headed in Gareth Bale's cross in the 58th for his eighth goal of the season.

———

ROME (AP) — Edinson Cavani scored the go-ahead goal in the 85th minute, and Napoli won 2-1 at Parama to close within three points of Serie A leader Juventus.

Marek Hamsik scored in the 20th minute but Parma tied it in the 74th on an own goal by Napoli captain Paolo Cannavaro, playing his first game since a suspension for match-fixing was overturned. Cannavaro and defender Gianluca Grava were given six-month bans by the Italian soccer federation's disciplinary committee on Dec. 18, but the penalties were lifted Jan. 17 following an appeal to the federation's internal court.

Defender champion Juventus (15-3-4) has 49 points while Napoli (14-4-4), seeking its first title since Diego Maradona led it to the 1990 championship, has 46. Parma lost at home for the first time this season.

AC Milan (11-7-4) moved into fifth place with a 1-0 win at Atalanta on a 29th-minute goal by Stephen El Shaarawy, his 15th league goal this season.

Inter hosted Torino in the late game.

———

BERLIN (AP) — Mario Mandzukic scored a goal and set up another as Bayern Munich beat Stuttgart 2-0 to open an 11-point lead in the Bundesliga.

Mandzukic scored in the 50th minute, when he intercepted a backpass from defender Christian Molinaro and rounded goalkeeper Sven Ulreich, then cossed for Thomas Mueller's goal on a counterattack in the 72nd.

Hamburg defeated Werder Bremen 3-2 in the Bundesliga's 98th northern derby to end a three-game losing streak in games against its rival.

Follow Us

Post a reader comment

We encourage your feedback and dialog. Please be civil and respectful.If you're witty, to the point and quotable, your reader comments may also be included on the Around the Towns page of The Sunday Republican. Readers must be registered and logged in to post comments on the site. Registration is free. Click Here to register.
A Subscription is not required to post comments only a Registration.